WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party has released its final tally of Green victories on Election Day, November 6, 2007.

16 Green candidates, out of 94 who ran on November 6, won their races for local office (pending confirmation of David Lussier's county legislature victory in New York). A total of 142 Greens ran for public office in the 2007 off-year elections.

"We're very proud of all our 2007 candidates. Along with our winners, we also note that Green candidates who didn't win received impressive percentages in cities and towns where Greens are still a new party, or where local politics have been dominated by a single party, as in Baltimore and Tucson. These percentages prove that more and more Americans are willing to vote Green, and that the party made a leap forward in 2007," said TE Smith, a member of the DC Statehood Green Party.

Alan Brison scored an upset victory in his race for Ward 10 Alderman in New Haven. Mr. Brison beat his competition by 100 votes in the East Rock and Cedar Hill neighborhoods. http://ctgreens.org/candidates/brison2007

Jean deSmet was elected First Selectman of the town of Windham. (At 9:30 pm on Tuesday, Ms. deSmet was 120 votes ahead of the Democrat and far ahead of the Republican.) Ms. deSmet is also co-chair of the Green Party of Connecticut.http://www.VoteJean.com

The Illinois Green Party met the early filing deadline on November 6 for placing presidential, congressional, and other candidates on the ballot for the state's February 5 primary. In 2006, Illinois Greens who their ballot line, overcoming difficult ballot access rules and obstruction efforts by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who used $800,000 in taxpayers' money trying to block the Green Party. Green gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney drew over 10% in 2006, more than twice Illinois' 5% requirement to maintain ballot access. According to Phil Huckelberry, chair of the Illinois Green Party's government and elections committee, the party has set a goal of having 100 to 110 state and local candidates on ballots in 2008. For more information on Illinois Green races, contact Mr. Huckelberry at 309-268-9974 or <phil.huckelberry@gmail.com>.

David Lussier, running in a partisan race for County Legislature (District 7) in Albany, has a five vote lead with all machine votes in on Election Night. 90 affidavit and absentee ballots remain to be counted on November 14. Mr. Lussier's 531 votes places him ahead of Democrat Brian Scavo (526 votes). Mr. Lussier campaigned vigorously among absentee ballot voters, and Greens are optimistic that his victory will be confirmed. http://www.lussierforleg.com

Three Virginia Green were elected to local Soil and Water Conservation Boards: Chris Simmons in Loudon County; Kathleen Harrigan (write-in) for the Tri-County Soil and Water commission in Fredericksburg; and Daniel Metraux in Staunton.

GREENS WITH GOOD PERCENTAGES
Races where Green numbers show major increases over previous elections or Green candidates achieved significant percentages in cities dominated by a single party.

Arizona
Beryl Baker received 27% for Tucson City Council (Ward 1); Dave Croteau received 28% for Mayor of Tucson.

Indiana
Kathleen Petitjean captured 23% of the vote in the 1st District City Council race in South Bend, the largest percentage of votes ever garnered by a Green candidate in the state.

Maryland
Bill Barry received 27% in his race for Baltimore City Council. Maria Allwine drew 17% for Baltimore City Council President. Both ran against incumbents in a city long dominated by Democrats.

Washington
Joe Szwaja finished second out of two candidates with 21,471 votes or 29.47%. Sally Soriano lost her reelection to the Seattle School Board with 25,966 votes or 38.22%; her opponent raised $130,000 with the help of corporate contributors for a $5,000 a year job.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United Stateshttp://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

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